The first step to creating any kind of lesson in Smart Notebook is to prepare yourself before hand. Map out what you want to do and how you want to get there, so that when you sit down at your computer you can start creating with little or no difficulty. It takes time to create a lesson. The first time you create an interactive lesson will take you an even longer time, but the more you use the Smart Notebook the better you will become at creating lessons.
We are going to look at getting started then work to create a fully functioning lesson. The lesson we will create will be the very popular interactive Jeopardy lesson.
Getting started
Looking at the blank white screen of the Work Area can be a very daunting. Without a true plan you can't get started. It is important to remember that Smart Notebook and the Smart Board are interactive medium. So you have to concentrate on your content and presentation. Once you understand and can comfortably present your content using the Smart Board then you can begin working on the presentation.
Take some time when not teaching to play with the board. Write on it. Find a place to stand that is comfortable and may not block a lot of the information. Work on setting up the board, projector and computer so that when the time comes you are ready to go with minimal set up time. Place your cart where you want it in the room then lock the wheels in place. Mark the place on the floor, use easy to remove tape, so that when the cart is moved it can be replaced in the exact spot. Adjust the height of the projector to fill the whole screen then leave it as such and never change it. Always remember Fn+F8 to toggle between the computer and projector.
Start the Notebook Software. Use some of the tools explained in this training. Start small, then work your way up to more complicated fare. Surf and search through the objects in the Gallery Tab. Look for things that might help you. Look for items online and outside the notebook. Insert them into your presentations and save them in your My Content section for future use. Work with manipulating objects and adding links. Search the web and the Smart Tech website to find more resources for teachers. Join the Smart Tech Forums and communicate and learn from other teachers how they use their smart boards.
Starting Your First Lesson
Once you become comfortable with the hardware and software it is time to start building an interactive lesson. Like any lesson it is important to plan and organize everything you are going to do.
Write down your objectives and teacher notes. You can open Smart Notebook and start typing in your first slide. These notes will be there and can be helpful in in the future if other teachers use your notebook file. Look through the different objects in the Gallery that pertain to your subject and content. If you like them place them in the My Content section organizing them how you see fit. That way they will be available to you when you need them. If you will be adding objects from outside the Smart Notebook you can add those to the My Content Gallery as well.
We are going to look at creating a Jeopardy style game using the Smart Notebook Software. Before you start you need to decide a few things:
How many Questions will you need? There are no set number of questions you will need to ask. But the Jeopardy board is set up by rows and columns. You need an even number of questions for the main board and then one more for final Jeopardy, if you choose to go there. Think about how much time you will have available for the game in class. Is 30 Questions too much? Is 16 too few?
What style or colors do you want to use? Think back to your psychology classes in college. What colors do kids respond to best? Remember that you will be projecting this in the class. So if the colors are too bright they may not show up well. Same with fonts. Make sure you use large, clear and easy to read fonts. Different scripts may look different and original but can be hard to read in the back of the classroom. There are millions of colors and dozens of fonts. It can be very daunting to sit there and look over them all. Think of your favorites and stick with those.
One the Jeopardy game is created it can be repopulated with new questions and answers whenever you need to use it.
Jeopardy
Set Up Page
Open your Smart Board Notebook software. The very first thing you should do is save your project. Save it after every major step. The software may crash at any time for no reason whatsoever. If that happens you could lose all your work. Next from the Smart Menu choose View > Zoom > Entire Page Now you can see the entire page while editing and creating and will not have to scroll up and down or left to right. Next turn on the Alignment Guides, either through the icon in the Toolbar or View > Alignment This will help you line up everything nice and neat on the page.
Title Page
The first page will be your Title Page. This isn't necessary but as stated earlier it is a good place to keep notes and info on the assignment for other teachers as well as reminders for you. It is also a good place to start before jumping into the game. You can use the same background for this page as the other pages or you can change it to a different color. Consistency is important but this is also you're creation so do what you like.
You can use a solid color or mix it up with a gradient. An image or pattern background can be okay for the title page but prove too distracting for the rest of the game.
Now you can add text. Use the Text Tool from the Toolbox and Give your game a title. If you plan on distributing this to other teachers you can give it a blank [Insert your class here] line on the page. Choose a large enough font to be able to read. You can bold it to make it easier to see and give it a nice color that is easy to read as well.
Using the alignment lines center the title in the middle of the page or where ever you would like it.
When you are finished with the Title Page then you can move on to the Game Board.
Game Board
Clone the Title Page. Open the Page Sorter Tab and chose Clone Page from the drop down menu attached to the first page. Then click Clear Page from the drop down menu of the second page. The text object will be removed from the slide but the background will remain, leaving you with a blank page.
Now with a clear page you can start building the game board. Everyone knows what the Jeopardy Game Board looks like. Rows and columns of squares containing points each one leading to another screen with a question. At the top of each column is the category title of the column. Now it is important that you have decided on how many questions you are planning to use. For this exercise we are doing 16 questions.
The first thing you need to do is create the squares. Using the shapes tool create whatever shape you want. For this example we are using the rounded square. You can create the first one anywhere on the page. Remember you can change the thickness and color of any line including the edges of shapes using the Properties Tab. After the shape has been changed you can then fill it in using the fill tool. Chose the Text Tool and then click in the middle of the shape. Type in the 100.
Click and drag over the two objects, text and shape. Using one of the drop down menus and group the two items together. Then click it again to clone it. Clone it four times. Ungroup the objects and edit the numbers so they now say 100, 200, 300 and 400 in the boxes. Then click and drag over all the objects again and group them. Now you can align this group on the screen.
Clone this group 4 times and place them on the screen aligning them using the Align tool. You should end up with a board like this:
Now you have built the game board. It is now time to give headings to the different columns. Above each column add a Text Object giving it a title. If desired you can add a shape to place the title inside of. Make sure you size the text and color it so it looks neat and easy to read.
Now your board is ready to populate with questions.
We are going to look at getting started then work to create a fully functioning lesson. The lesson we will create will be the very popular interactive Jeopardy lesson.
Getting started
Looking at the blank white screen of the Work Area can be a very daunting. Without a true plan you can't get started. It is important to remember that Smart Notebook and the Smart Board are interactive medium. So you have to concentrate on your content and presentation. Once you understand and can comfortably present your content using the Smart Board then you can begin working on the presentation.Take some time when not teaching to play with the board. Write on it. Find a place to stand that is comfortable and may not block a lot of the information. Work on setting up the board, projector and computer so that when the time comes you are ready to go with minimal set up time. Place your cart where you want it in the room then lock the wheels in place. Mark the place on the floor, use easy to remove tape, so that when the cart is moved it can be replaced in the exact spot. Adjust the height of the projector to fill the whole screen then leave it as such and never change it. Always remember Fn+F8 to toggle between the computer and projector.
Start the Notebook Software. Use some of the tools explained in this training. Start small, then work your way up to more complicated fare. Surf and search through the objects in the Gallery Tab. Look for things that might help you. Look for items online and outside the notebook. Insert them into your presentations and save them in your My Content section for future use. Work with manipulating objects and adding links. Search the web and the Smart Tech website to find more resources for teachers. Join the Smart Tech Forums and communicate and learn from other teachers how they use their smart boards.
Starting Your First Lesson
Once you become comfortable with the hardware and software it is time to start building an interactive lesson. Like any lesson it is important to plan and organize everything you are going to do.
Write down your objectives and teacher notes. You can open Smart Notebook and start typing in your first slide. These notes will be there and can be helpful in in the future if other teachers use your notebook file. Look through the different objects in the Gallery that pertain to your subject and content. If you like them place them in the My Content section organizing them how you see fit. That way they will be available to you when you need them. If you will be adding objects from outside the Smart Notebook you can add those to the My Content Gallery as well.
We are going to look at creating a Jeopardy style game using the Smart Notebook Software. Before you start you need to decide a few things:
One the Jeopardy game is created it can be repopulated with new questions and answers whenever you need to use it.
Jeopardy
Set Up Page
Open your Smart Board Notebook software. The very first thing you should do is save your project. Save it after every major step. The software may crash at any time for no reason whatsoever. If that happens you could lose all your work. Next from the Smart Menu choose View > Zoom > Entire Page Now you can see the entire page while editing and creating and will not have to scroll up and down or left to right. Next turn on the Alignment Guides, either through the icon in the Toolbar or View > Alignment This will help you line up everything nice and neat on the page.Title Page
The first page will be your Title Page. This isn't necessary but as stated earlier it is a good place to keep notes and info on the assignment for other teachers as well as reminders for you. It is also a good place to start before jumping into the game. You can use the same background for this page as the other pages or you can change it to a different color. Consistency is important but this is also you're creation so do what you like.You can use a solid color or mix it up with a gradient. An image or pattern background can be okay for the title page but prove too distracting for the rest of the game.
Now you can add text. Use the Text Tool from the Toolbox and Give your game a title. If you plan on distributing this to other teachers you can give it a blank [Insert your class here] line on the page. Choose a large enough font to be able to read. You can bold it to make it easier to see and give it a nice color that is easy to read as well.
Using the alignment lines center the title in the middle of the page or where ever you would like it.
When you are finished with the Title Page then you can move on to the Game Board.
Game Board
Clone the Title Page. Open the Page Sorter Tab and chose Clone Page from the drop down menu attached to the first page. Then click Clear Page from the drop down menu of the second page. The text object will be removed from the slide but the background will remain, leaving you with a blank page.Now with a clear page you can start building the game board. Everyone knows what the Jeopardy Game Board looks like. Rows and columns of squares containing points each one leading to another screen with a question. At the top of each column is the category title of the column. Now it is important that you have decided on how many questions you are planning to use. For this exercise we are doing 16 questions.
The first thing you need to do is create the squares. Using the shapes tool create whatever shape you want. For this example we are using the rounded square. You can create the first one anywhere on the page. Remember you can change the thickness and color of any line including the edges of shapes using the Properties Tab. After the shape has been changed you can then fill it in using the fill tool. Chose the Text Tool and then click in the middle of the shape. Type in the 100.
Click and drag over the two objects, text and shape. Using one of the drop down menus and group the two items together. Then click it again to clone it. Clone it four times. Ungroup the objects and edit the numbers so they now say 100, 200, 300 and 400 in the boxes. Then click and drag over all the objects again and group them. Now you can align this group on the screen.
Clone this group 4 times and place them on the screen aligning them using the Align tool. You should end up with a board like this:
Now you have built the game board. It is now time to give headings to the different columns. Above each column add a Text Object giving it a title. If desired you can add a shape to place the title inside of. Make sure you size the text and color it so it looks neat and easy to read.
Now your board is ready to populate with questions.
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Next: Jeopardy Pt. 2